On Mentoring & Following Up On Ideas: Lessons from Leonardo DaVinci

One of my favorite places to hang out online is Career Hub. I'm privileged to be one of the site's contributing authors, and have found that I enjoy learning from my colleagues as much as I do writing my own pieces.

One of my fellow contributors, Sital Ruparelia of 6 Figure Career Management, recently published a post on lessons to take away from Leonardo DaVinci.

His tips in brief:

1. Don't be defined by your job title

2. Be clear about your unique talents and transferable skills

3. Focus on the results of your talents

4. Be ok with screwing up

5. Open your mind

As I recently attendeda “Models” exhibition which showcased physical representations of DaVinci’s concepts
based on his journal writings, Sital's post inspired me to share a few additional observations.

First a quick note on what I saw.
The “models” exhibit featured hands-on models of DaVinci’s ideas—all constructed
by modern artists and woodworkers in Florence. The models are a comprehensive collection of ideas
and inventions—from ball bearings and wind motion detectors to ideas that never
quite worked as DaVinci envisioned--my favorite among these were "skis"
that he believed would allow people to walk on water.(This
exhibit has been staged in cities around the world; click here for a gallery of
some of the “models” developed by Florence artisans. )

In his post, Sital provides five
terrific lessons we can all learn from DaVinci—from refusing to be defined by
your job title to focusing on the results of your talents, being okay with
screwing up, and keeping an open mind. Here
are two strategies you can use to put these lessons into action.

As you pursue your interests and explore possibilities, write them
down! Leonardo's journals have made a "priceless" contribution to
society; keeping track of your ideas can help you create your own solutions to
problems. Here's a great book by Columbia University Professor William Duggan that explains how the "aha" moment
happens, and how you can spark your own creative intuition:

I
had the good fortune to hear Professor Duggan speak last year, and he
made an analogy that the mind is like a file cabinet; one of the
elements of strategic intuition (or solving problems with innovative
solutions) is recall. Keep a journal of your ideas, and your mental
"filing cabinet" will be naturally more accessible!

Find a mentor, and stick with them--even when you've learned all you
think you need to.

DaVinci may have had innate skills,
but he also had training from the masters. At age 14, he became an apprentice
to Verrachio, one of the premier artists of his time. Through his work with
Verrachio and other apprentices, Leonardo was exposed to a vast pool of talent
and technical skills--and the opportunity to learn everything from drafting and
painting to mechanics and metallurgy. At age 20, DaVinci became a Master in
the Guild of St. Luke, and subsequently was able to set up his own workshop.
But he continued to collaborate with Verrocchio. As I see it, here’s the lesson
in this: Long-term mentors can help you throughout your career, not just in the
short term.

This is what I see in DaVinci’s
work, do you have any additional observations to share?